Sultans Ofstring
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Chris McKhool’s and Sultans ofString Teachers’ Guide Chris McKhool’s and Sultans ofString Teachers’ Guide THANK YOU FOR INVITING CHRIS MCKHOOL TO PERFORM AT YOUR SCHOOL. The Show In performance, Chris and his band will perform selections from his CDs, FiddleFire! and Luna. FiddleFire! is targeted to elementary school audiences, while Sultans of String’s Luna CD can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The musicians will amplify their instruments so everyone can hear and pay attention to the different musical aspects of the performance. A concert is a joyous event, and there will be lots of opportunity for clapping along. Elementary students will be invited to sing along and join the band on stage to perform on percussion instruments from around the world. Students who have been introduced to the CDs beforehand may enjoy the show even more! The Guide Chris McKhool’s FiddleFire! & Sultans of String Teachers’ Guide has been developed to help educators incorporate some of the concepts of the FiddleFire! and Luna CDs and concerts into the classroom. In this guide, you will find demonstrations, games and discussion ideas for a variety of ages and classroom situations. Feel free to try some of these before and after the performance. We hope you enjoy this guide and find it helpful to support music education in your class. If you have other activity ideas relating to the songs, please get in touch. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Chris McKhool would like to thank the Vancouver Foundation, BC Arts Council and ArtStarts for their support of the Artists in Education program, which helps support performing artists touring in BC. Guide written by Chris McKhool and Danny Bakan Photography: Kevin Kelly Photography Layout: NOMAD Design Special thanks to my parents, Eli and Roberte McKhool, and to my sister, Ingrid. All Text ©2000 Chris McKhool — All Rights Reserved. For CDs and Teachers’ Guides contact: Chris McKhool 49 Ashdale Avenue Toronto, ON M4L 2Y6 Canada Phone: (416) 469-3180 • 1-800-625-4665 [email protected] www.fiddlefire.com www.sultansofstring.com TABLE OF CONTENTS BIOGRAPHY — Chris McKhool and the Sultans of String. 4 BIOGRAPHY — Chris McKhool’s FiddleFire! . 5 MUSIC AND THE MULTICULTURAL MOSAIC: . 6 ACTIVITY: Discussion — What makes a Canadian? . 6 ACTIVITY: Musical Genealogy . 6 ACTIVITY: World Music. 6 ACTIVITY: Music Sampling . 7 THREE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MUSIC . 8 1. Rhythm. 8 ACTIVITY: Drum Circles . 8 ACTIVITY: Rhythm Game . 8 2. Melody . 9 ACTIVITY: Melody Game . 9 3. Harmony . 9 ACTIVITY: Harmony Game . 10 STYLES OF MUSIC . 11 JAZZ . 11 HOW INSTRUMENTS PLAY TOGETHER: Conversations in Jazz . 11 JUST FOR FUN: Jazz Talk . 11 SCAT SINGING IN JAZZ: . 12 ACTIVITY: Scat in the Hat. 12 GYSPY JAZZ: Music of the Roma People and Django Reinhardt: . 12 More about the Roma . 13 MIDDLE EASTERN MUSIC. 13 RUMBA FLAMENCO. 13 THE BLUES . 14 CELTIC MUSIC . 15 ACTIVITY: Make Your Own Kitchen Party . 15 CLASSICAL . 15 WRITING YOUR OWN MUSIC . 15 ACTIVITY: Using Computers To Make Music With High School Students . 15 ACTIVITY: Piggyback Or Zipper Songs . 16 THE INSTRUMENTS . 17 IS THAT A FIDDLE OR A VIOLIN YOU ARE PLAYING? . 17 GUITAR . 17 ACTIVITY: Make your own box guitars. 18 PIANO . 18 BASS . 19 DRUMS . 19 ACTIVITY: Drum Finder . 20 APPENDIX A: CHRIS MCKHOOL’S FIDDLEFIRE! CD LYRICS. 21 APPENDIX B: SULTANS OF STRING LUNA CD NOTES . 31 APPENDIX C: TECHNICAL INFORMATION . 34 APPENDIX D: CHRIS MCKHOOL CDS AND BOOKS . 35 BIOGRAPHY Chris McKhool and the Sultans of String Atomic World-Jazz-Flamenco Sultans of String are Canada’s ambassadors of musical diversity. The band romps through an energized adventure of Latin, Gypsy-jazz, Middle Eastern and folk rhythms, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound. World rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance. Sultans of String have been called “groundbreaking... virtuoso... boundary pushing... infectious... visionary... brilliant... and absolutely stunning!” (The Live Music Report). Their debut CD Luna soared to # 1 across Canada on Top Ten national radio charts, and won the award for Best Variety Act from Festivals & Events Ontario. They were finalists in the Toronto, Ontario, Canadian and International Independent Music Awards, winning both the best song and best instrumental categories for the 2007 Ontario Independent Music Awards. Six-string violinist and bandleader Chris McKhool grew up in a house bursting with music and diversity. His paternal Makhoul grandparents immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the early 1900’s. His Egyptian-born mother is a piano and theory teacher. Growing up Chris was fed a steady diet of delicious musicality along with Middle Eastern cuisine and violin lessons. From a very young age Chris was taught the Canadian values of tolerance, respect for all peoples and celebration of culture. His passion for exploring rhythms and melodies has led him far and wide, collecting instruments and styles from around the world. Travels to the Canadian Arctic, Indonesia, France, England, Cuba, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Indian Himalayas to perform and conduct music workshops have deepened his musical and spiritual understanding of our global community. Chris has also guest starred with Jesse Cook, Pavlo, Amanda Martinez and Club Django. When Chris first played along with founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté’s rumba rhythm, their musical mind-meld created the Sultans of String’s sound — the intimate and playful relationship between the violin and the flamenco guitar. Sultans of String includes such amazing musical friends as: guitarists Kevin Laliberté (who has toured the world with Jesse Cook and the Chieftains) & Eddie Paton (Robert Michaels), bassists Drew Birston (Chantal Kreviazuk) & David Woodhead (Stan Rogers, Loreena McKennitt), percussionists Chendy Leon (Cuban master) & Jeff Wilson (Maza Meze), Bassam Bishara (master oud player from Palestine), and vocalists Amanda Martinez (Latin) & Maryem Tollar (Arabic). Touring as a trio to sextet, Chris draws from this collective of master musicians to bring Sultans of String to jazz, folk, classical and family audiences around the world including the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, and the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts (WA). 4 BIOGRAPHY Chris McKhool’s FiddleFire! FiddleFire! is a CD and concert show Chris created specifically for elementary school aged children. Hailed as a “Children’s musical star” (National Post) and “Canada’s greatest eco-troubadour for young people” (Mississauga Living Arts Centre), Chris McKhool is one of Canada’s hottest children’s musicians. Chris has been touring across Canada with his children’s concerts for ten years, reaching almost 1 million children, and has appeared on Mr. Dressup, YTV’s Treehouse, TVOntario’s Crawlspace and the CBC. A champion of environmental issues, Chris won a 2005 Green Toronto Award of Excellence and was a finalist for the Environment Canada Action Award for his work in schools and communities across Canada with his CD and concert Earth, Seas & Air. He has also won a Parent’s Choice Award in the U.S. for his CD of the same name, produced by Ken Whiteley (Raffi). He has been the recipient of Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, FACTOR and PromoFact Awards. In 2005 Chris released his children’s CD, Celebrate! Holidays of the Global Village. Inspired by travels across Canada and around the world, Celebrate! is a groundbreaking collaboration with musicians from diverse cultures. It features songs about holidays from across the globe that are celebrated here in Canada, including Bodhi Day (Buddhist), Carnival (Quebec), Chanukah, Chinese New Year, Christmas, Diwali, Eid, Indigenous traditions, Kwanzaa (African-American), Ramadan and Winter Solstice. Chris has toured throughout Canada including Baffin Island and has appeared at the Ottawa, Vancouver, Thunder Bay.